The Chosen People: Who are they and what are they chosen to do?

Revisiting values, restoring meanings.

Any wise parent knows that favouring one child over the rest creates animosity amongst the siblings. But many people still do it. Even god seems to have made this mistake.

Choosing one upon which to bestow our favours is not only unfair, it is shortsighted, establishing nothing but slaves and tyrants. If we - all of us - are god’s creations, why would He chose one as his favourite? Couldn’t he have created all of us as beloveds? It’s not like he does not have enough favours to bestow - for if he is god then he is limitless. Love does not run out.¹

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. (Animal Farm, George Orwell.)

But, you might argue, I too have favourites amongst my creations. From the works I’ve written or pieces I’ve performed, I deem some as ‘better’ or more valuable. Some found a place in my portfolio while others did not. Not every story is ‘pinned.’
Why have I chosen this or that as my representations - on the stage and the page - in life?
Because of the messages they convey, because I enjoyed the process of creating them, and for their literary/aesthetic merit.

إن الله جميل يحب الجمال
God is beautiful and loves beauty.

The things I’ve made which fit the above criteria thus become my favourites. They are closer to my heart. They were not born-favourites in my imagination, they had to grow to become favourites in the physical world. They had to prove themselves. Oh, no- I’m sounding like my mother - forget ‘prove’ I’d say- demonstrate. Or even better, Embody. Be.

So if I were god, who would be my favourites? My chosen? (No grandiosity here, ask yourself that too. In fact, please do. If you were god - for you are - ask yourself) Who are the chosen? Why did I chose them? What have I chosen them to do? Have they not chosen themselves? And who am I in the mix? What do I choose to be?

If god is light, wouldn’t his chosen be those who embody his essence?

It cannot be that I - as god - simply chose them for no other reason but a religion, passport or race. We all know that in every tribe there is both the good and the rotten. I could not have chosen my favourites to oppress or occupy (others or themselves), to uproot, demolish, carry arms, kill, destroy livelihoods, burn or be burnt? Nor would I have chosen them to repent all day at my walls, or build more walls to bang our heads on. Nor would I want them to live in constant existential fear or unbearable guilt. Nor would I want them to thank me all day. Gratitude is nice, but ‘show don’t tell.’

You thank me by bringing my light into the world.

Imagine, you raise kids into adulthood and they end up sitting outside your bedroom banging their head on the (locked) door telling you how great you are, or how sorry they are, or how they wish you’d kill their enemies (which god/you also created.) If I were that parent, I’d jump out of the window - wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t god!?

I know, talking about god is very problematic - beginning with the definition, to doubting his actual existence. My father warned me against it, but I can’t help myself. I can only pray that now that father’s on the other side, he can yashfa’ for me as I cross the reddest of lines. I am doing so with love (though we all know where that leads, so help up goddess.)

At the Cross Road: the path of suffering … Tareeq al-Alaam. I return to the speech that was the impetus for writing this article today, waking me up before dawn, seating me behind the computer - next to a pot of sage-tea and two cats keeping me company. [It’s many hours later now, the cats are out hunting at dusk and the tea pot is cold and empty, but I’m still here- slow like the slugs of last summer.]

According to Israeli journalist Gideon Levy - a man I greatly admire.

“(there are) three principles which enable us Israelis to live so easily with this brutal reality:”*

A. We are the chosen people. And if we are the chosen people we have the right to do whatever we want.
B. Not only (are we) the victim, (but) the ONLY victim around.
C: (The Palestinians) are not human beings like us, so there is no question of human rights.

(Click here to watch the full segment on youtube, 2023. And if you think one can’t talk about this with humour, think again.)

It’s easy to see how these beliefs negate any chance of co-existence. It’s difficult to change beliefs, but perhaps we can re-define their meaning (or restore their meaning) and make adaptations to the conclusions drawn. These principles are of course generalisations, as Levy himself used ‘most Israelis- if not all.’ There are always exceptions, I dare to say I have met some. Just as there are arguments against the notion of ‘chosen people’ or that modern-day Jews are not necessarily the Israelites referred to in the scriptures as the chosen to receive god’s message and land / I hate to think of god as a tribal real estate agent / But I won’t be getting into any of that.

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” R. Buckminster Fuller

While I believe that the concept of ‘chosen’ is far more inclusive and sublime than a specific people, I’ll be taking a radical approach here, entertaining levy’s first two principles without negating the first premise (please read to the end before you shoot me:)

If there is a ‘chosen people’, then it might as well be the Jews and the Israelis (but it doesn’t mean they can do whatever they want - i.e. misbehave.) And yes, they are indeed victims (since the beginning of his-tory - though not the only.)

The third principle is tricky of course, but I think I found a solution for it. Levy acknowledged it as the most dangerous, and it is. But it can easily be countered by ‘encountering the other,’ and we’ll get to that, if we so desire. Humanising the other is actually much easier than demonising them (as we are all human, so it’s just a matter of recognising reality, while demonising requires a whole propaganda campaign.) Humanity however is not popular.
“Just let the women sit around a table and and cook together,” said Balqis at Bait Azar in Nazareth (that story I promise to tell at a later date.) It is actually that simple. Cook together. Dance together. Let the children play together. Grieve together. Some do.
Think of Combatants for peace. Think of my father Ibrahim and his Jewish neighbour in Silwan, Avram (story). Read: Column McCann’s “Apeirogon.’ There are many examples, but let’s face it, there is a lot to be gained from animosity between neighbours and kin - between the branches of the human race. Just look at the spikes in the stock market over the decades - or in just in the last two years.

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The Chosen (people)

We begin with defining the terms. I turn to the Arabic dictionary²:

Sha'b Allah al-mukhtaar: God’s chosen people

Allah: (arabic for) God

Sha’b: Peoples, nations, tribes
Also: Branch, fork.
Shi’b: road in a mountain, or a water path in the stomach of the earth.
Sha’ba: (root):
Gathering and separating. Reform and corruption (yes- the thing and its opposite)
Division. Cleave. The great tribe. The mountain.

Al-Mukhtaar: the chosen
Ikhtaar (verb) to choose
Kayaar: choice
Khayr (root): goodness.

What says the bible?

Having no authority to talk about it, I’ll quote someone who does - dr. Naomi Wolf, from 2014 (You can read the whole thing here)

“God's "covenant" in Genesis, Exodus and Deuteronomy with the Jewish people is NOT ABOUT AN ETHNICITY AND NOT ABOUT A CONTRACT. IT IS ABOUT A WAY OF BEHAVING…. "my people" is not ethnic -- it is transactional. We are God's people not by birth but by a way of behaving, that is ethical, kind and just. And we STOP being "God's people" when we are not ethical, kind and just. And ANYONE who is ethical, kind and just is, according to God in Genesis, "God's people." And the "contract" to "give" us Israel is conditional -- we can live in God's land IF we are "God's people" in this way -- just, merciful, compassionate. AND -- it never ever says, it is ONLY your land. Even when passages spell out geographical "boundaries" as if God does such a thing, it never says this is exclusively your land. It never says I will give this land JUST to you”

Amen! I could end my post here, but I will go back to Levy principles - in which he uses ‘us-Israelis’ and not ‘us-Jews’ which -as you should know- are not always interchangeable. Yet - I’ll be referring to both.

What if you (Israelis and Jews) are in fact the chosen people?

You might as well be! You’re the most capable of turning the course of events - top down and ground-up.

After all, it’s the flag of your faith that’s being used to commit atrocities, ecocide, genocide - call it what you may. Therefore, everywhere in the world feels less safe.
It’s your children that are actively serving in the army, being made to blow up pieces of human-meat into oblivion. Who’s profiting? The US gives Israel aid to buy weapons from the US. Hello!
Yes, you are victims. De-humanising the other inevitably dehumanises you too. Don’t tell me it’s ok to be born into the military. What parent wants that for their child? What god wants that for his chosen? O Great Britain was so generous – establishing a home for you in the middle of a cohesive region that will inevitably resist you - must feel like being dropped in a snake pit. A perfect set up for catastrophe and eternal turmoil. Victims - made to play soldier and killer - because everyone is out to get you. Till when? Is there an end to being a slave? Constantly having to fight for mere existence. Placed in a large ghetto - pretty, with swimming pools and parks, surrounded by walls - to be gathered, awaiting the end of times.

Am I walling myself in, or am I walling you out - or in? Which side of the wall am I on?

I’m all about ‘heralding the messiah’ too, but not like this. This cannot be the way god wants it. For if you were god, would you want this for your children? I wouldn’t want it for mine - even the less favourite of my offspring. Can we get out of the literal and corrupted understanding of the Messiah and see it as the Christ consciousness. The divine light of love manifested on the the Earth in human beings. The path of the soul towards enlightenment - if the soul (chooses to) take that step - in this lifetime.

So — if the aim is to herald the light and fulfil the promise, and if the promise is peace, and if the holy land is that plot, how should the chosen behave?
”Ethical, kind and just.”

It’s a big job, but
لا يكلف الله نفسا الّا وسعها
“God does not burden a soul more than it can handle.” (Quran 2:268.)
And what a bigger burden than this!
You’re the best equipped for this job.

Can we let go of the concept of exclusivity and address this togther?

While Jews are outnumbered by other faiths, they(you) seem to play a large and important role in the world. Having developed refined survival strategies, establishing strong networks, contributing to the sciences and arts, reaching places of power amongst circles of influence. From media and entertainment, to lobbies, salons and industries (to magic)- with many successful, rich and resourceful individuals – it is a power to reckon with - if united in service of the light. A power that is capable of turning the course of event - if chosen - away from the apocalyptic to the visionary.
As for those on the ground - in the bloody land - I’d hate to be in your shoes, but there you are - needing to make the biggest leap of faith. Reaching out to the the other and laying down arms. Yes, it’s terrifying. But there’s no other way. What will the other side do? I’d like to believe they’d immediately open their arms to embrace you - and while I believe this is not only possible but essential and inevitable - it will of course require work on the other side. But it begins with you. There is so much healing needed in the holy land - we cannot begin soon enough to address it. Restoring the land together, conserving water, feels to me like the best way to achieve peace and co-existence. If that’s not the promise, I don’t know what would be. But first we need to stop the killing. We’re all needed to achieve this.

Not in your name. Not in their name. Not in ours.

Many jewish-identifying people are standing against what’s happening - they are separating their faith from the political colonialist zio-schism (which is more a product of colonialist Great Britain and the United States than the Jews themselves). Jewish voices for peace, Israelis for peace. Rabbis4Ceasefire, Standing Together; artists, academic, journalists, mothers… Bless you. Bearers of light.

Sometimes, I can see it happening… the great awakening, but then a post goes by: Destruction. Fire. Burnt children. Scroll. An Israeli commander raving at a settler’s post: ‘Gaza is ours. Lebanon is ours. And we will clean these holy lands from the filth.’ Bearded fanatics raise their machine guns in response. Scroll. An interview with settler leader Daniella Weiss showing the map of the holy land, extending to Iraq - saying it’s the promise (which in her definition means a land cleansed of people of my branch.) Then I sit here in my self-imposed exile trying to make space for miracles: O how I wish I could talk with that woman – knead dough together, collect herbs. I recognise her humanity. Might she recognise mine?

It’s not in the advantage of the puppeteers to make peace, the people are the chess pieces. Disposable. The Jews and the Israeli who recognise their role as light bearers can bring an end to the bloodshed in the holy land today - thus moving us from war to peace (the promise.) Thus, making them in fact - the chosen people. It begins with recognising the other’s humanity. And if you are truly here in service of god, then the path is clear.

Re-definying the principles

So, going back to Levy’s three principle, we can make the following alterations:
A - We/you are the chosen people. And if we/you are the chosen people we have the right to do whatever we want. we are obliged to do what’s right. And what’s righter than: be the light.
B - Not only are we the victims (but) the ONLY victim around. we are also the oppressors. (And the victims will then become the oppressors. We need to break the cycle.)
C - (They) are not human beings like us. So, there is no such things as human rights. They are human being from another branch in the same tree. Together, we are not (just) human beings, we are the sacred tree of life, divine emanations of the creator.

"The greater the obstacle, the greater the potential for light.”
It seems there could be no greater an obstacle than this -
darkness is swallowing everything into the nothing –
How can you be a candle?

<Choose to be amongst the chosen, the embodiment of the good.
A vessel of light in full darkness>

Not that there could be an end to this inquiry… but end I shall, with an Arabic poem from 2008 - relayed here in 2024 as the stars align in the same place in the heavens, having come a full circle, perhaps to herald a final breaking of the cycle of violence. From Darkness to Light.

Does god cry?*

هل يبكي الله؟
وكيف لا يبكي
إن كان خلقه يجهش بالبكاء

هل يبكي؟  
وكيف لا
ألا تبكي الأم على ضناها 
عندما يذبح أخاه

يبكي..؟
كيف لا!  
انشأ الجنات لأنسه
... و ما أنسو 
 عميان

يبكي
فالعين إن فقدت الرؤيا
ستبكي ...
القلب - إن فقد الدماء ...
والأرض
إن جفت مياها ... 
ألن تبكي؟ 
جفت 
و جف دمعها 
لكنها ما زالت
تبكي ....

يبكيان معا.

هذه لحظة البدء

{Narration & Translation the last 2 minutes of the article audio}

1. I’m specifically using the masculine term for the creator/x here because the story of the Chosen People we’re dealing with comes within the patriarchal line of Abraham. We can cut the bullshit and affirm that bringing back the severed female face of god would solve the problem - but that’s not the purpose of this specific article…. or is it?

2. Al-Mwardi .A Modern Arabic English Dictionary, Rohi Baalbaki, 2007 /
& Al-Qamous al-Muhiet. Part 3. Mohammed Bin Ya’oub bin al-sarraj al-fairouz Aabadi. (2009)